Pakistan’s interior minister on Thursday found himself in the unusual position of being asked to bar himself from leaving the country as the fallout from a supreme court verdict continued to rock Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari’s government.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan’s top anti-corruption agency, said it was reopening hundreds of cases after the court quashed a legal amnesty introduced by the former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf two years ago.
Ghazni Khan, the agency’s spokesman, said it had asked the Interior Ministry to put 248 people on the exit control list, preventing them from leaving the country.
Khan did not give the names, but local television stations, citing official sources, said Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik was among them. Malik, who is usually voluble in front of the media, refused to comment on the case.
The agency also said it was reviving arrest warrants in some cases and freezing assets, including bank accounts and property.
The court ruling that struck down the corruption amnesty on Wednesday triggered turmoil in Pakistan’s political system.
Opposition politicians are clamoring for Zardari’s resignation, but he has insisted he will not go. As the president, he enjoys immunity from prosecution.
Rivals said his moral authority had been irretrievably damaged.
“He should quit this office in his own interest as well as in the interest of his party and the system,” said Khwaja Asif of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League.
Analysts said the country was moving into uncharted territory.
“It’s chaos out there. Nobody knows what’s going on. Everyone is trying to work out the ramifications of the court order,” said Cyril Almeida, a columnist at the Dawn newspaper.
US DroneS
As the political turmoil deepened, a missile strike in the tribal belt underscored the grave militancy problem facing the country.
According to local officials, up to five US drones fired 10 missiles at a house in north Waziristan, raising speculation that a senior al-Qaeda figure was being targeted.
At least 12 people were killed.
A second drone attack in the same area targeted suspected militants traveling in a car. By late evening, officials could not identify those killed.
Western allies fear the trouble surrounding Zardari will further damage his government’s ability to provide political cover for the politically difficult attacks.
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